There has been some opposition among the United fans to the choice of Everton boss Moyes, who has never won any major silverware nor managed in the Champions League, but Ferdinand insists there is nothing but support from the players.

"We are all delighted," he told MUTV. "It was important the club made a decision quickly and it all got sorted out. I am sure the manager thought long and hard about his own decision but the club have acted swiftly and it's great to see the new manager coming in.

"David Moyes will be very open and sympathetic to the traditions of the club. He'll try to continue that and not come in and make changes in terms of the whole characteristics of the club. That's important for a club of this size.

"The manager that we've got now has implemented a fantastic system, a working system. We've been successful this year and hopefully we can continue that. This guy, I'm sure, is the right man to do that. He's a very honest man it seems from what you hear from other players you speak to.

"He's done a fantastic job at Everton. They've always been a solid team and what he's always demanded is a great work ethic. There are a lot of similarities with the manager we've got at the moment and it's a big thing that he continues that tradition."

Fellow centre-back Nemanja Vidic joined Ferdinand in welcoming the new manager.

He said: "I'm looking forward to working with David and I believe I will have the same success I had with Sir Alex. David and Sir Alex share some similarities - they are very passionate, they are both winners and you can see the way they approach the games and how they run things.

"David Moyes did a great job with Everton. He is a man who gets his players to work hard and show discipline. He did that well with Everton because in the last few years they've been successful in getting into the top six."